Ronan Rafferty gave himself a boost at Castelconturbia yesterday after finishing in gathering gloom after a round of 67 which was only a little short of miraculous bearing in mind his troubles of the last three months.
That earned him a share of third place in the rain-affected first-round of an Italian Open - now reduced to a 54 hole event and in danger of spilling over to Monday.
Only half the field in Milan were able to post their scores. Patrik Sjoland of Sweden posted an eight-under-par 64 to earn himself a two-shot lead and the accolade of "awesome" from his playing-partner Jose Maria Olazabal, whom he outshot by four strokes.
But Rafferty, after spending three months-plus having all sorts of treatment for the wear-and-tear on his left thumb which has caused shaved tendons and ligaments, is back where he used to belong - on a European Tour leaderboard again.
He is in third place, only three off the pace and just one behind second placed man Klas Eriksson, another Swede, as the players finally got out onto the course again following over 16 hours hanging around in the clubhouse.
To obviate wet landing areas, 234 yards were clipped off the course, making one of the par fives, the eighth, only 385 yards. Players took full advantage and the birdies and eagles flowed.
Rafferty eagled the fifth, where he holed in an eight-iron approach from 159 yards out, earning himself a two on the par four. That was a bonus and so was a 25footer for his third birdie.
But his real bonus was being able to play at all after massage, cortisone injections and infra-red rays had finally left him feeling his thumb injury may be healed. "I'm amazed. I just came here to play 18 holes practice and probably then only 36 holes of the tournament, so this is close to leaving me in shock. I've made the weekend!
"I just wanted to try to compete for 36 holes but occasionally my game was very good. I got lucky at the fifth because I was just trying to get the ball to come up short. It's a very narrow green.
"This is very encouraging now. When I stood on the first tee this morning I had no pretentions."
Padraig Harrington rallied brilliantly with an eagle-birdie finish for a 70 to be two-under but there was an even more spectacular four-birdies in five holes run from Francis Howley around the turn as the Milltown man carded a 72. Des Smyth will not be in the second round after pulling out with a painful neck after a 74.
